Footprints In The Sand
by freeze1
Summary: Short, sweet, waff. Basically, Kari is really upset about something, and T.K. is the only one there to cheer her up. [Takari]


Untitled A/N: Okay...if you've read my other stuff you'll know this is commen with me, but this was written on a random thought I got during the midle of the day. It's really sappy and realy sweet, and if you like Takari it's a definate read. Maybe I'll write more stories about Taiora, Mimato and Kenyako during this vacation. Hmmm....anyway...just read! 

Disclaimer: Digimon is NOT mine. It is the property of Fox Kids. I'm sorry but I have nothing else to say. Goodbye. 

The sea air swept about the sea, twisting the waves lightly and slowly rippling them towards the curve of land ahead. The sand was hot on the young boys feet as he walked along the edge of the water, his eyes peeled into the distance. 

His glass blue eyes turned back towards a small cottage far behind him in the distance, and then as though he was making up his mind he continued forward, pushing the strands of blond hair out of his eyes. His tunic flapped in the wind as his eyes searched the boarderline of the shore, darting from place to place like a cheetah. 

"Where are you?" 12 year old T.K. Ishida asked, rubbing his hand over his bare head in confusion, having left his hat at the cottage. It was great to have some time alone on a great beach like this with the digi-destined, but after a while he was wondering why she hadn't shown up. 

Sighing he continued across the beach feeling the small waves ripple across his feet. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the sun, the colors spread out across the sky as it set. And as he looked, reflected in the sun, stood a figure. Her brown eyes were staring intently across the water as her shouler length brown hair blew past her into the distance. 

"Kari!" The girl turned around as T.K. ran up to her, his feet leaving small marks in the coarse sand. She turned to face him, a surprised look on her face. 

"T.K!" She exclaimed as he reached her. "What are you doing out here?" T.K. smiled at the shocked look on his friends face. 

"Shouldn't I be asking that of you?" He chuckled. "I haven't seen you around much lately, is this where you've been hanging out?" Her face turned to look down at her feet. 

"I…yes T.K.," She muttered. T.K. watched his friend with concern at her reaction. 

"Kari," he whispered, stretching out his hand and lightly resting it on her shoulder, feeling a tingle spread through his entire body. "Is something wrong?" She looked up at him, her brown eyes sad and forlorn. 

"Yes T.K.," she said, turning to face out into the ocean again. "Something's wrong." He stepped up behind her. 

"You can tell me, Kari," he whispered. "You can tell me anything." He couldn't quite see, but he could almost sense that she was smiling gratefully. 

"It was a long time ago T.K.," she asnwered, tilting her face towards the setting sun, letting the light flow over it. "I had lost my parents in a crowded city. I had no where to go at all! I was so alone and afraid, I couldn't think about what to do. So I just sat down on the steps of an old building and tried not to cry. It was kind of silly really, but I was so young and afraid!" 

"It's not silly!" T.K. exclaimed, "I've been lost before, and I was really, really scared!" He saw the corners of her mouth twitch upwards into a small smile. 

"Anyways," she continued, "Suddenly I heard someone crying besides me and I turned to see a young girl. I asked her what was wrong and she said she was lost. I pushed away my fears trying to help her face her fears. She wouldn't tell me how she had gotten lost…just that she was. I helped her around town until we found a government office. It turned out to be a hotel called the Government Department Luxury Hotel, but that's a different story." T.K. smiled at this. 

"I waited while they talked to the girl," Kari explained. "I told them that I was Hikari Kamiya and that I had found a little girl on the street and she was lost. After about an hour a man came back and told me that my parents had been found and notified to come here. When I inquired about the girls parents he told me that they were dead. They had died a few days before in a car crash, and she was the only survivor." 

"What?" T.K. exclaimed, taking a step back. "That's horrible Kari!" Kari nodded, staring back over the ocean. 

"I always wanted to go help her," she whispered softly. "I vowed that someday I would make sure that that little girl would be safe, that she would have a real home and family. She was sent to an orphanage, you know. I had asked speciffically to get a small report on what happened to her, I felt like she was my responsibility. But yesterday I got an unexpected note. The whole orphanage was on a bus ride…and it crashed. She was killed." T.K. gasped as he looked at his friend, her head bent towards the ground. And even though he probably wasn't meant to…he saw a small tear slip off her face. 

"Oh my god," he whispered quietly. "I'm so sorry Kari!" And before he knew what he was doing he had walked up to the girl and put his arms around her, grasping her tightly. 

"It's okay Kari," he whispered, holding onto her tightly. "I'm here. Shh…it's okay." And with that came the sobs from the girl he was holding. He rubbed his hand through his hair, feeling the smoothness of it. Kari…After a moment she broke off and looked at him. 

"I just didn't think anyone would understand," she whispered, staring him straight in the eye. "I just wanted to be alone." T.K. cringed involuntarily. 

"I'll go if you want me to…" 

"No," she whispered with a small smile on her face, "Please stay. I…I feel safe when you're here." He saw the color rise to her cheeks as it rose to his own. 

"Of course Kari," he chuckled, wrapping his arms around her again. "I'll always be here." She smiled as she shifted her position so they were both facing the setting sun. 

The minutes seemed to pass as hours as they stood. T.K. looked down onto his friend and saw her shiver. 

"You cold?" he asked her. She turned to face him. 

"Oh…no," she whispered, but he could see her clutching her arms and shaking. He smiled, taking off his coat. 

"Here," he whispered, putting it around her. Confused, she stared up at him. He smiled back. 

"Thank you T.K.," she whispered. "But now you'll be cold!" T.K. laughed. 

"Of course not!" He bragged, but then noticed he was shivering himself. "Okay…so maybe a little. But you were shaking like heck! Take the coat." She smiled up at him. 

"If you're cold and won't take the jacket then we should be getting in," she laughed. He nodded, squeezing himself trying to keep warm. They started walking, step by step into the sand, the coolness of the water washing over their feet. 

"Huh?" T.K. asked, feeling something on his shoulder. He looked down to see Kari's happy little face looking up at him, with her arm stretched around his back onto his shoulder. 

"This is the best I can do," she whispered. "Seeing as you won't take the coat." He smiled gratefully, feeling the familiar tingles down his spine at her touch. 

"It's fine Kari," he laughed. They kept walking back, the cottage seeming to get bigger and bigger as they walked. T.K. could almost hear Kari's brother Tai screaming at something or another and Sora laughing furiously. 

"Listen…T.K.?" Kari asked. T.K. turned down to face her. 

"Yeah?" 

"Thanks for helping me back there," she whispered, looking down as her cheeks colored. 

"Hey, no problem, right?" He smiled. "What are friends for?" She smiled, and suddenly reached up and kissed him lightly on the cheek. 

"You're right T.K.," she smiled. "And you're my best friend in the whole wide world!" T.K. could feel the electricity seeping through him at her kiss as he watched the beautiful figure next to him smile. 

"You'll never be alone Kari," he whispered, giving up on everything else he had been trying to say. "You'll always have me." 

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